Lord Owen discusses the role of “diminished empathy and unbridled intuition” in Hubris Syndrome.

Speech by the Rt Hon Lord Owen to the Latest Advances in Psychiatry Symposium, Royal College Of Physicians, London. Delivered Thursday 12 March, 2015.

“I have become increasingly interested in two interlocking features that seem to be associated with Hubris Syndrome, namely diminished empathy and unbridled intuition.

“Neither are mentioned … (in) the 14 signs and symptoms of Hubris Syndrome which I developed with Professor Jonathan Davidson in our article in Brain in 2009.

“… with the diminished empathy that often accompanies hubris comes an ever-greater reliance on intuition; and with the lack of empathy, that intuition risks becoming unbridled and dangerous.” ….

How can diminished empathy, or unbridled intuition be triggered in the brain of someone who acquires hubris? Is the “learning” or “cementing of expectations” demonstrated in recent experiments an explanation for how Hubris Syndrome appears to stay for months and years in someone who has acquired it?

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This site features Lord Owen's thinking on current issues - it is not archival. Lord Owen's papers covering his time as a Minister and Foreign Secretary in the UK Government, in the Social Democratic Party and as EU Co-Chair of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia are available from the University of Liverpool Library's Special Collections and Archives. A catalogue is here: Lord Owen's Archive.